AmeriCymru: Hi Meredith and many thanks for agreeing to this interview. To begin with can you tell us a little about your Welsh roots?

Meredith: I am... (counts on fingers) 5th generation Welsh-American. My great-great grandfather was a coal miner from the Aberdare area in Glamorgan, and he and my great-great grandma came to America in the 1870’s I believe, and ended up in What Cheer, Iowa, which was a coal mining town with a substantial Welsh immigrant population.

Being Welsh was always something my mom’s side of the family was quite proud of. My mom gave me a Welsh first name and always told me how much she loved the Welsh culture of music. She was a piano teacher, and I play piano and sing, so I guess I got a good dose of Welsh genes! She also said that the few times she had heard spoken Welsh, she loved it and thought it was so beautiful. So I always wanted to learn it, from the time I was little. It seems the language died out in our family pretty quick after arriving in America, though, so now that I’m a Dysgwr Cymraeg, it’s the first Welsh being spoken in our family in maybe a century!

AmeriCymru: You wrote an article for Nation Cymru in response to a recent editorial which appeared on the site. It seems almost redundant to ask, but, why do you think that it is important for the global Welsh to see Wales celebrate its history and heritage?

Meredith: Well, in terms of the opinion article I was replying to, Welsh history should be important for the global Welsh because that’s the point of divergence for many of us. I’m here, I exist here, in America, because of events that happened in Welsh history. So when people like the man who wrote the opinion I replied to says that celebrating and studying Welsh history is looking backwards and is unproductive, it’s a kind of erasure of all of us who are here because of that history.

And beyond that, something I didn’t really bring up in that article is the fact that at least here in America, white people tend to think that being white IS being American. Everybody else gets a hyphenated heritage. Chinese-American. Mexican-American, African-American, etc. So non-white people get categorized twice—first by their skin color, and then by their cultural heritage. A 5th generation Asian person is still considered Asian-American, while a 5th generation white person like me is just “American.”

Some scholars think that some of this racial bias could be challenged by getting white Americans to become more aware of their own cultural heritage and how different the various regions in Europe are. Instead of us finding our ethnic identity in the color of our skin, which can contribute to racism and ultimately even white supremacy, the idea is that we rediscover the mix of diverse cultures that both bring us together and set us apart as distinct.

I’m German, English, Walloon Belgian, and Welsh, and probably a smattering of other cultures I haven’t traced back yet. Some of my ancestors rode in on the Mayflower and signed the Mayflower Compact. Others didn’t arrive here until the early 20th century. How did that mix of cultures shape my family and its history? What impact has it had on who I am?

What does it mean to have both English and Welsh heritage, given the often-contentious history between the two countries? How do I feel about my German heritage in light of two world wars? And why is it that I feel so much more connection to my Welsh great-grandma, but not as much to my Walloon great-grandpa who married her? Is it because of my mother’s pride in our Welsh heritage combined with not really knowing as much about what it meant to be a Walloon? My great-grandpa was killed as a young father in an accident. Perhaps if he had lived, he could have passed down more about Belgian culture to my grandma and my mother. What does all this say about how cultural identity is formed—or lost?

And how does all of this affect who I am as an American? I’m not saying that pondering these kind of questions will fix racism in America. If only it were that easy. But I do think that when we start exploring the mix of cultures in our backgrounds, it may be able to help us stop thinking in terms of a skin tone equating “American.”

To bring that back around to Welsh heritage in particular, there are a lot of people with Welsh heritage who either don’t even know it or have no idea what it means. So to move away from a skin-tone based identity, we need to know and understand how diverse these European cultures that we come from really are. That’s not so hard with a dominant culture such as German or English. But it’s easy to overlook lesser-known cultures such as Welsh or Walloon. Global Welsh need to be able to connect with Welsh culture and history in order to better understand how they have impacted our own unique families and personal identity.

AmeriCymru: It seems to me, after reading the editorial that the author makes some valid points but his distinction between 'forward' and 'backward' looking nationalisms is tenuous to say the least. Is it possible to celebrate your nation's heritage without reference to its culture or its past?

Meredith: I think the answer to that is in the word “heritage” itself: Something that is handed down-- from the past. How can you celebrate something that was handed down to you from the past without referencing that past? It’s nonsensical.

Honestly, I think we see the problems of that with American culture and history. There’s a lot that we celebrate as Americans without really understanding where it came from, or we celebrate it with a warped understanding of how it came to be. I’m thinking about things like how we’ve mythologized Thanksgiving (and a bunch of other holidays), or how we say we value “boot strap independence” without understanding the vital role community life played (and still plays) in our very survival as a nation. Losing our understanding of our past makes us less empathetic and honestly less efficient, less just, less healthy as a society.

One of my high school history teachers had that quote across the top of the chalkboard all year: “Those who don’t learn from the past are destined to repeat it.” That’s always resonated with me. I think we have to look backwards, not just to avoid repeating mistakes, but also to gain perspective, context, and a bit of wisdom. Otherwise, I don’t know how we move forward in a way that is just and productive for as many of our fellow humans as possible.

AmeriCymru: Nationalist movements which exist solely to celebrate their history and heritage are easily distinguishable from others whose main goal is to foment hatred of 'foreign' cultures. Would you agree?

Meredith: Definitely. However, I think that healthy nationalist movements can go deeper than just “celebration” which implies happy, positive emotions. Shouldn’t the goal really be to have as full an understanding of that culture as possible?

A focus solely on celebration forces us to gloss over or ignore the darker moments and the failures and downfalls of that culture—things we should mourn and wrestle with, instead of celebrate. If we forget those dark moments, we risk creating a culture of pride and a belief in our own superiority and infallibility. And that will lead to harmful nationalism or ethnocentrism.

And going in the other direction, there are points in a culture’s past where great harm was done to us. Or maybe the damage is currently being done. Oppression, injustice, inequality—these leave impacts on a culture for centuries. And they create emotions that we have to wrestle with, emotions that are often not socially acceptable. How do you express anger about the pain caused by systemic injustice or exploitation in a way that won’t be taken as hatred toward the oppressor? How do you make sure you don’t allow your justifiable anger to morph into something destructive?

When we only allow celebration of culture, we force people to ignore those darker emotions and not deal with them constructively. Wounds will only fester and rot that way.

So I would suggest that a truly nationalist movement needs to be as honest a movement as possible—allowing for celebration as well as mourning, pride as well as humility, joy as well as anger. It needs to be firmly committed to exploring the complexity of that national experience in a way that promotes healing and greater justice instead of hatred or a sense of superiority.

The only way to do that is as full and honest an understanding and appreciation for that culture’s history as possible.

AmeriCymru: You are currently learning Welsh. How are things progressing? What can you tell us about your experience so far?

Meredith: I’m studying Welsh through the Americymraeg course here that John Good teaches. I started with the very first term back in May of 2013, just 3 months after my mother died. The timing on that was total coincidence, but I definitely feel like my language study is a tribute to her.

I’m in the Intermediate level, and I love my classmates and my teacher so much. A lot of times, I feel like I’m not progressing as fast as I wish I was. Most of that is due to me not studying as much as I need to. I think a lot of adult learners—of anything—struggle with that because of the demands on our time and the fact that our brains are not going to absorb language with the ease of a young child.

But then there’s little things that remind me of how much I really have learned and how far I’ve come. Like when I can understand most of a tweet in Welsh or respond in Welsh on a FB comment without looking any words up. Or when I’m able to hold a 30 minute conversation, no matter how halting, with my study buddy, Susan. Those moments are exhilarating!

I listen to Radio Cymru on a radio app on my phone. The speed is too fast for me to keep up with, but I can tell when they’re giving the weather report, and I know when it’s sunny in Wrexham. And sometimes there are words that I know that I know, but I can’t recall fast enough. But still—five years ago, I wouldn’t have known any words at all!

So I think for me at least, the key to learning Welsh is to be as consistent as possible and take opportunities to practice and push myself, but also be kind to myself and focus more on how far I’ve come instead of how much I should be doing.

I really want to do a long language intensive in Wales. I think an immersion experience would be amazing. But I am incredibly, profoundly grateful for our Welsh course—it’s helping me fulfill a lifelong dream, and I love every minute of it.

AmeriCymru: You are also a writer. Care to tell us a little about your 'Empire Alchemy' (link) series?

Meredith: Gladly! I’ve been a published novelist since 2005, and I write mostly fantasy these days—both for adults and young adults. Currently, I’m working on book 4 of a steampunk fantasy series set in an alternate Victorian world where everyone is obsessed with the theater. My characters are young theater apprentices who end up using their art to confront an increasingly unjust empire and fan the flames of a revolution. I was inspired by the “Velvet Revolution” of the Czech Republic where theaters were instrumental to that non-violent change of power, and the series explores the tension between a desire for justice and a commitment to non-violence.

My protagonist’s love interest is Welsh and speaks Welsh (I call it Cymric in this world). It’s not the focus of this story, but where I can, I enjoy working tributes to Wales in any of my books.

I’m also working on a non-fantasy pastiche of a very well-known series, and I’ve made my version of the narrator Welsh. I’m being a bit coy about this because I’m not ready to announce it yet, but I’m having an absolute blast and can’t wait to go public with it.

Link: My amazon author page: amazon.com/author/ meredithrose

AmeriCymru: Together with Susan Floyd you have founded the Texas Welsh Society .  I know your first meetup was on the 11th. How did it go? What are the society's goals or mission?

Meredith: I met Susan a little over a year ago when I discovered she is also an Americymraeg student and lives in Austin. We’ve become great friends, and we try to get together once a week to practice speaking Welsh and just encourage each other with our studies.

We noticed that there didn’t seem to be a lot for active Welsh culture groups in Texas, so this year we decided to form a Welsh society.

We want the Texas Welsh Society to be an advocate for Welsh culture and serve as a point of connection for people with an interest in Wales. TWS is non-political and focused on building connections and friendships as well as providing resources and learning opportunities. We like the idea of reaching out beyond Texas as well to find ways to support and be allies for the people of Wales.

We just had our first meetup on the 11th, and we plan to hold monthly meetups the 2nd Sunday of each month. Once we build some consistency there, we hope to expand to other events and projects. We have a ton of ideas, and we hope that as our group grows, we’ll have lots going on.

AmeriCymru: Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?

Meredith: Just that I’m so very grateful to be a part of the the global Welsh community, and I think it’s a pretty special group of people. Cymru am byth!

A decade after the death of one of the world’s best journalist photographers, the Welshman Philip Jones Griffiths, the first ever biography detailing his life and work has been published in Welsh. The volume Philip Jones Griffiths – Ei Fywyd a’i Luniau (His Life and Photography) by Ioan Roberts, is published this week by Y Lolfa and contains fifty impressive photographs by Philip himself, from Wales to Vietnam and many other countries.

Philip Jones Griffiths is remembered mainly for his photographs of the Vietnam war – photographs that contributed to changing the attitude of the American people towards the war. During his career he visited 140 countries, many of them that were at the heart of the horrors of war and suffering. But Philip would refuse to be labeled as a war photographer. It was not war in itself that spurred his interest, but to find the root of why that war was taking place, and the effect it had on the lives of innocent people.

In Vietnam he believed that the US forces tried to push their own values ​​on the old local civilization, which reminded him of the cultural and linguistic conflicts he had experienced during his childhood near the Rhuddlan border. The reason for him to be so successful in his work in Vietnam was that his apprenticeship for that country had begun during his childhood in Wales, he said. This volume also tells new and humourous stories about that childhood.

His objective through his work, he said, was ‘to spread light on the dark shadows of the world’.

‘I had decided that I would be the one to find out what the truth was,’ he said, ‘Taking real-life photographs of real people, that's my ambition.’

After leaving St Asaph Grammar School, Philip studied at the School of Pharmacy at the University of Liverpool before working as a pharmacist with the Boots company in London. He began to take photographs in his spare time for papers like the Observer and the Sunday Times, before becoming a full-time photographer. He went to live in New York after becoming president of the famous Magnum photography agency, a post he held for five years, longer than anyone else.

In his tribute, another Magnum photographer, Stuart Franklin, said ‘He gave to photojournalism its moral soul’.

The hardback volume contains fifty of Philip’s photographs, some portraying the horrors from the battlefield, others portraying an industrial Wales that has long since gone. Philip Jones Griffiths’s photos, like Philip himself, are a mixture if the sorrowful and the light-hearted.

The author and journalist Ioan Roberts from Pwllheli first came to know Philip Jones Griffiths in 1996 through his work in the world of television, and both were in occasional contact until Philip’s death in 2008.

‘Crucial to his work was his humility, his love for people and his intuitive sympathy with the weak. That came from his Welshness and his Welsh upbringing,’ said Ioan, ‘Through shining a new light on his backstory, I hope this volume will make the shining career of Philip Jones Griffiths easier to understand’.

‘Philip had strong convictions, he was a giant of a man physically and in terms of his presence, but yet friendly and witty.’

His work has attracted praise from some famous figures in world of photo-journalism including one of the founders of Magnum, Henri Cartier-Bresson, who said, ‘no-one since Goya has portrayed war as Philip Jones Griffiths did.’

And Australian photographer, journalist and director John Pilger said,

‘He was the greatest photographer and one of the finest journalists of my lifetime, and a humanitarian to match. His photographs of ordinary people, from his beloved Wales to Vietnam and the shadows of Cambodia, make you realise who the true heroes are. He was one of them.’

In the words of Marian Delyth, who contributed to the foreword of the volume,

‘It would be a matter of pride for Philip to see that it is in the Welsh language that his first biography is being published. Its now been ten years since we lost him. One part of Philip’s wishes were fulfilled – that his work was kept in Wales.’

‘It is now our responsibility to ensure that those images can continue to influence contemporary opinion in every period as they did with the Vietnam war’ she added.

An evening to launch the volume will take place at Rhuddlan Library in Denbighshire at 7pm on Monday, March 19 in the company of the Rev. Elfed ap Nefydd Roberts, author Ioan Roberts and Dai Thomas of the Rhuddlan Local History Society. The evening is organised by Denbighshire Libraries and sponsored by Rhuddlan Town Council.

Philip Jones Griffiths – Ei Fywyd a’i Luniau by Ioan Roberts (£19.99, Y Lolfa) is available now.

Adjudication from Mike Jenkins

''Rice Paper Dreams' by Krystal Song and 'Happy Birthday Marcy Lamport' by Caroline Jensen were both exceptional. I really liked both Song's stories and all of Jensen's......a real talent. I'll have to go for Krystal Song, but it's close and Caroline deserves a special mention for so many great stories.

The winner of the 2017 competition is Krystal Song.

Mike Jenkins

Read the winning entries here:- Krystal Song 2017 WCE Online Story Competition Winner

Congratulations/Llongyfarchiadau to this year's winner Krystal Song

Adjudication from Peter Thabit Jones

There were some excellent submissions for the 2018 competition. I was really impressed by the variety of poetic voices, subjects, and forms. It was not easy coming to a decision, though I knew I was looking for work that was original, fresh, with something that held my attention for the span of its unfolding, and with something that would call me back again and again. I eventually arrived at three poets whose poems kept calling me back again and again: Paul Steffan Jones, Whyt Pugh, and Sally Spedding.

The winner of the 2018 competition is Whyt Pugh.

Peter Thabit Jones
Poet, dramatist, and publisher

Read the winning entries here:-  Whyt Pugh 2017 WCE Online Poetry Competition Winner  

Congratulations/Llongyfarchiadau to this year's winner Whyt Pugh

Gwenno Dafydd - St David's Day Ambassador To The World

Gwenno Dafydd is the instigator of the Saint David's Day Anthem (Lyrics: Gwenno Dafydd Music: Heulwen Thomas) which was launched by The Presiding Officer of the Welsh Assembly Government, Lord Dafydd Elis Thomas in 2008. She has been promoting and developing Saint David's Day activities worldwide since 2006 when the Saint David's Day Anthem 'Cenwch y Clychau i Dewi' (Ring out the bells for Saint David) was performed in public for the very first time in the National Saint David's Day Parade in Cardiff. She has instigated the tradition of 'County Banners' throughout Wales to celebrate Saint David's Day. This year, the first County Banner, The Pembrokeshire Banner, which is kept on permanent display in the East Cloister in Saint David's Cathedral, will be joined by two new County Banners, those of Montgomeryshire and Carmartheshire.

The Saint David's Day Anthem, which will this year be sold from the very prestigious Ty Cerdd website, patron Karl Jenkins, alongside the music of Welsh composers such as Grace Williams, William Mathias, Morfydd Llwyn Owen and Gareth Glyn. The Saint David's Day Anthem has been performed not only in Wales but also numerous times in Canada, Los Angeles, Patagonia, Disneyland Paris and the Houses of Parliament. Every year the Pembrokeshire Banner is paraded around Saint David's Cathedral whilst local school children sing the Saint David's Day Anthem.

She has created an Iphone App to learn the Welsh National Anthem and is the author of 'Stand Up & Sock it to them Sister. Funny Feisty Females' which had been described by Funny Women, the UK's leading female comedy community as 'the ultimate canon of female stand-up comics'. She is a Leadership and Public Speaking Coach and works extensively via Skype and even has some clients in Los Angeles.

One Mum has sought to bridge the gap in the Welsh books that are available to new parents which will illustrate the reality of bringing up a child in Wales with a Welsh perspective by publishing a new book that will be a fun and comprehensive guide for new parents.

Heulwen Davies of Machynlleth publishes Mam – Croeso i’r Clwb (Mam – Welcome to the Club) this week – a book full of facts for new mothers recording the experiences of parents, families, doctors and midwives, leading the mother through the pregnancy up to the end of the child’s first year. The volume will include an open and light discussion about the changes and challenges facing new parents whilst offering advice along the way. It will be launched in time for Mothers Day on 11 March 2018.

‘As a first time mother, it became clear that there were plenty of English books and websites available to get advice and share experiences, but there was no Welsh language or Welsh digital platform,’ explained Heulwen, ‘Although the English resources were of help, I was not able to identify with these mothers, as the majority lived in a city, were rich and posh! Their life was very different from my life - a pregnant mother in rural Wales. Not better, just different.’

‘I was keen to change the situation, to help future parents, and ensure that the experiences of parents are shared in Welsh and bilingually, to portray the life of a parent in Wales today.’ says Heulwen, ‘I started blogging my experience as a new mother and had a very good response’.

Eager to encourage more parents to discuss and support each other, Heulwen decided to write her own book and in the process she set up the popular bilingual blog, Mam Cymru.

The incentive to write the book finally came from author Caryl Lewis when Heulwen attended a one-day writing course in Tŷ Newydd, which was led by Caryl.

‘At the end of the course, Caryl's words were, ‘If you don’t take this idea to a publisher by Monday, I’m going to take it for you!’ said Heulwen.

The volume's drawings were produced by cartoonist Huw Aaron to ‘add to the humor of the book’. Huw was glad of the opportunity and went through a similar experience himself during the time spent illustrating the book’s pictures when he became a father for the second time.

Although extensive parts of the volume are based on Heulwen’s experiences, there are contributions from over fifty parents, midwives and experts from all over Wales following an online questionnaire created by Heulwen in order to gather other parents’ experiences in Wales.

‘I'm not an expert, I’m a mother, but I’m absolutely honest and eager to help and make prospective parents and parents alike smile and laugh as they realise that everything that they are going through is normal!’ said Heulwen.

‘It's impossible to explain what its like to be a mother. You’ve got to experience it for yourself as you go on this exciting, emotional, happy and challenging journey.’ she said.

‘If you take one thing from this book on your journey, I’d like you to remember the importance of Prosecco – no, I’m joking! Its the importance of time!’ added Heulwen, ‘Make the best of your time, make the most of the time together and do what’s right for you. Mum knows best!’

Heulwen Davies lives in the Dyfi Valley with Gareth and Elsi Dyfi. She travelled Wales and the world as a producer and director of television and radio, before returning to Machynlleth and begun a career as a manager and marketing consultant and events.

The book will be launched in Caffi Alys, Machynlleth at 7pm on Friday 2 March and then in Medina in Aberystwyth at 6.30pm on Monday 5 March, both in th company of Heulwen Davies and Caryl Lewis.

Mam – Croeso i’r Clwb! by Heulwen Davies (£6.99, Y Lolfa) is available now.

SÊL Y GWANWYN 

O’r 26ain o Chwefror tan yr 2il o Fawrth bydd gostygiad o 20% ar bob archeb ar wefan Y Lolfa. 

Ewch i www.ylolfa.com i fanteisio ar y cynnig yn awr. 

SPRING SALE 

There will be a discount of 20% on all orders placed on Y Lolfa’s website between the 26 ^th of February and the 2 ^nd of March.  

Visit www.ylolfa.com to take advantage of this offer now.

An acclaimed author of bestselling Welsh quiz books has challenged readers to test how much they know about Wales in the run up to Saint David’s day.

Matthew Jones is the author of many acclaimed quiz books including the bestselling Welsh Rugby Quiz Book which has been recently updated with over fifty new questions and reprinted after selling over 12,000 copies. This week, he publishes the comprehensive The Wales Quiz Book which will test the readers’ knowledge on Wales and all things Welsh.

‘It’s always fun to test your own knowledge, and even better to challenge others,’ said Matthew Jones, ‘Now here’s a chance o prove to family and friends how much you know about Wales and test your memory on Wales’ rich tapestry of history, culture, landmarks and people.’

The Wales Quiz Book includes fifty rounds of ten questions on a variety of topics including music, films, successful individuals, memorable events, geography and more. Some questions are harder than others but Matthew is confident that ‘there's something for everyone’.

‘From Tom Jones to Manic Street Preachers, Richard Burton to Rhys Ifans, there's a real spectrum of enjoyment bursting from this book’ said Matthew Jones.

‘It’s an impossible task to pack everything about Wales into 500 questions, but The Wales Quiz Book gives a fantastic mixture of facts to suit everyone.’ added Matthew, ‘ This is a fun way for you to see how much you know about the country and its people, and getting friends together is even more enjoyable – people love a good quiz!’

Matthew Jones is the author of Welsh Sports Quiz Book, The Rugby Union Quiz Book, The Lions Rugby Quiz Book, The Six Nations Rugby Quiz Book and the bestselling Welsh Rugby Quiz Book . He lives in Cardiff and does media and PR work in English or Welsh.

The Wales Quiz Book by Matthew Jones (£3.99, Y Lolfa) is available now.